Band-cutter and feeder.



J. BLANGDON. BAND GUTTER AND FEEDER. APPLIOATION FILED APBA, 1908.

Patented Feb. 2s, 191.1.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

gli?? 3H ue, n to zl-L avza'doiz anew-nui@ y J. F. 'LANGDON BAND GUTTERAND FEEDER.

APPLICATION 211,31) APR.4,1908.

985, 183. Patented Feb. 28,- 1911.

43 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

inventan w/fiZfzgQb/Q Witwe/aou WMM J. F. LANGDON.

BAND GUTTER AND FEEDER'.

APPLICATION FILED` A}?1..4:,1908V l 985,183. A `PatentedEems,191.1.

` s SHEETS-SHBBT a.

@Swanton I @mi fue/mao narran sfrarFs RATFNT oFFicF..

JOHN F. LANGDON, oF WICHITA, KANSAS.

BAND-CUTTER AND FEEDER.

esame.

Speeicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 28, 1911.

Application filed April 4, 1908. Serial No. 425,236.

To all whom it may concer-n:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. LANcnoN,

fectually. loosen and divide the stock or lIna-- torial and insure aneven distribution of v the same to the receiving machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a self feeder including.main and auxiliary governors which act automatically to control thesupply of material to the recei'vin machine when an overcharge occurs,eit er by reason Vof an excess volumeof materialor by reason of thecondition,`

of said material.

A further object is to ,provide a self feeder having a rapidly revolvingband cutter, the bla-des or cutting devices of which intermesh with thespaced fingers ofa slowly revolving retarder" thereby to prevent theflat wet bundles or bundles of damp tangled material from passing to thereceiving machine.

A further object of 'the invention Yis to provide means for normally andyieldably retaining the,r retarder in operative relation with respectvtoGthe cutting devices 'of the rear cutter, and means for adjusting theretarder relative to said rear cutter.

A still further object of the invention isgenerally to improve thisclass of devices so as to increase their utility, durability, andefficiency as well as to reduce the cost of manufacture.

Further objects and advantages will appear in the following description,it being understood that various changes in form, proportions and minordetails of construction may be resorted to within the scope of theappended claims.

For a full understanding of the invention and the merits thereof,reference is to be had to the following description and accompanyingdrawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevatlon of a self feederconstructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is a verticalsectional view partlyin elevation taken on the line 2-2 .of Fig. et, theframework or casing being shown in dotted line. Fig. 3 is a transversesectional `view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4; Fig.

a is a horizontal sectional view. Fig.- 5 1s a side elevatlon partly insection of the pivoted supporting brackets or yokes, and

their associated parts. Fig. 6 is a partial end view' of Fig. 5. Fig. 7is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Corresponding and like parts are referred `to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying drawingsby the same reference numerals. The improved self feeder forming thesubject matter of the present invention is principally designed forattachment to'thueshing machines, clover hullers, alfalfa mills andsimilar machinery and by way of illustration is shown in connection witha threshing machine of the ordinary construction in which 5 designatesthe body of the thresh ing. machine and 6 the cylinder carrying theJdriving pulley 7 .A

The feedencomprises a casing S open. at'

its opposite ends and having its rear portion anchored by suitable'tierods 9 to the threshing machine 5 above the cylinder 6, as shown. Journaled in the opposite walls of the casing 8 is a transverse shaft 10,having a plurality of spaced cutting blades 11 secured thereto andadapted' to sever the securing bands or strings of the stock and dividethe bunch as the latter is fed thro ugh the casing to the threshingmachine. Located below and slightly in the rear of the shaft 10 is atranverse shaft 12 to which is secured a roller 13 carrying the rear endof the conveyer 131, the latter constituting the means employed forfeeding the stock or material to the band cutters. The opposite ends ofthe transverse shaft 12 are extended laterally bevond the opposite sidewalls of the casing 8 to form supports 'for a pair of pivotally mountedangularly disposed brackets or yokes 1a in which is journaled theretarder shaft 15. The opposite ends of the shaft 15 project throughelongated openings 16 formed in the adjacent side walls of the casing 8for attachment to the brackets 14, while the intermediate portion of theshaft 15 is provided with a plurality of spaced spirally disposedretarding lfingers 17 the lower edges of which are curved or rounded at18 forengagement with the underside of the bunch or stock,

as the latter' passes between the retarding fingers and the rear bandcutter.

The rear band cutter comprises ashaft 19 having a plurality of spacedcutting blades 20 secured thereto and similar in construction to theblades 1l of the front band cutter. Attention is here called -to thefact that the cutting edges 21 of both the front4 and rear cutters areformed in the arc of" of a Vcircle so as to eifectually engage -'andsever the bands or strings employed for loperatively connected ivith therocking shaft' 23 and the extension 22 of one of the brackets 14 is acoil spring 27 which serves to nor'- mally and yieldab y supportthe-retarder in operative relation with the cutting devices on the shaft19.

It will here'be noted that the fingers 17 normally intermesh With thecutting devices 20 on the shaft 19 so that should a flat wet bundle or amass of damp or Wet material find its Way past the forward band cutterythe same Will depresst-he yoke against the action of the spring 27 andautomatically check the feed or material on the conveyer 13.1, as Willbe more fully explained hereinafter. A similar plate 25'andv coil spring27 4'are arranged on the opposite side ofthe casing and operativelyconnected with the adjacent angular extension 22 and rocking shaft 23,in the manner before described.

Each attaching plate 25 is formed with a 'bushing 28 which receives alifting shaft 29, the lattervbeing extended transversely through thecasing 8- and provided with ratchets 30 Ifor engagement with springpressed paWls 31, the opposite ends of Ythe shaft 29 being provided withterminal handles 32 so that by operating the handles 32 the rock shaft23 may be adjusted verticallyof the casing Within, the slots 24 therebyto regulate the tension of the springs 27 and also to raise or lower theretarder With respect to the rear band cutter.

The crank arm 26 on one side of the casing is connected to the adjacentangular extension 22 through the medium of a rod 33,

While the angular arm 26 on the other sideV 'of'\the-.casing isconnected to an emergency trip lever 34 by meansof 'a vertically ,dis-lposedrod 35, there being a spring 3G coiled around the rod 35 forthepurposeof preventing injury tothe trip lever 34 should is bentvinwardly to produce an'V actuating latterl l the latter be presseddownwardly too far. The lever 34 is'pivotally mounted at 3S on theangular extension 22 of one of the brackets 14 .While the free end ofsaid lever lip 39, which engages Aa tri o dog 40, when an overcharge ofmaterial is fed t-o the machine lfor the purpose of automaticallychecking the material, as will be more fully explained hereinafter. Thetrip dog 40 isfpivotally lnounted at 41 on the disk or flange 42 rig!idly secured to the shaft 12, one end ofsaid dog being provided with alaterally extending lug'43 and the other end thereof formed with alateral projection 44 .which normally extends into the path of movementof a plurality of driving rollers 45 carried by a gear wheel 46. Thegear Wheel 4G is loosely mounted on the shaft 12 and'is rotated withsaid shaft by engagement of the rollers 45 with the projection 44 of thetrip dog, a spring 47 being provided for normally and yieldablyretaining the projecting portion 44 of the trip dog in the path ofmovement I V of therollers 45. Thegear'46 meshes with 90 a pinion 4 8mounted on a stub shaft 49C projecting laterally from one side of thecasing and also carryingl a sprocket Wheel 50, the

latter being connected through the medium of` a sprocket chain `51 with.a similar sprocket Wheel 52 secured to one end of the cutter shaft 10,as best shown in Fig. 2 of.

the drawings. A sprocket wheel 53 is also secured to one side of thegear wheel 46 for engagement with a sprocket chain 54 extending over asprocket Wheel 55 on one end of the retarder shaft 15, so that motionmay be transmitted from the eonveyer 131 to the ret-arder to rotate theretarder. Secured to the other end of the forward cutter shaft 105 10 isa relatively large band Wheel or pulley 56 which receives a belt 57, thelatter being extended around the driving pulley 7 onthe threshingcylinder and also around an idle pulley 58; and a relatively small bandWheel 11o or pulley 59 secured to one end ofthe rear cutter shaft 19.The idle pulley 58 constitutes in effect a belt tightener and isjournaled on a block. orv support4v G0 slidably mounted in a.substantially 'rectangular l115 frame 61, the latter being disposed atan i angle or inclination tothe base of the casing 8 and secured to thelatter by bolts or similar' fastening devices. The pulley 58 isnorvmally and yieldably supported at one end of the framel by means of acoilspring 62 one end of which bears against the slid ing block 60 andthe .other end thereof `against the adjacent portion of the frame 61,there being a threaded rod "G3 providedv 1-25 for regulating the tensionof the spring (i2 when desired.` Depending fromthe opposite end of theinner cutter shaft 19 and 'o peratively vconneeted therewith in anysuitable manner 1S a governor 64 having its 130 or lug 66 similar inconstruction to the lip or lug 39 on the emergency trip lever 34. Theintermediate portion of the trip lever 65 is pivotally mounted at 67 onthe casing 8 so that when the shaft 19 is retarded the l f governor G4will be actuated to force the lip 66 of the lever 65 into engagementWith the trip dog 40 and thus move the latter out of the path ofmovement of the driving roll ers 45, thereby to render the gear Wheel4:6 idle and thus check the feed of material on the conveyer in case ofan overcharge in volume of said material.

An adjusting rod 68 is preferably mounted on the casing and isoperatively connected with the bearings of the forward cutter shaft 10for the purpose of vertically adjusting the latter.

Thus it will be seen that should an overcharge in the volume vofmaterial occur at the forward band cutter the sudden pull4 would causethe belt 57 to slip on the pulley 7 and thus exert a pressure on theloose pulley 58 against the tension of the spring (i2 thereby allowingthe belt to slip on the pulley -59 and thereby actuate .the governor 61kvto tilt the lever 65 and force the active lip GG of the said lever toengagement with the trip dog 40. lVhen the lip 6G engages the dog 40 thelatter willI be tilted against the action ofthe spring 47 so as tomovepthe projecting portion all of the trip dog out of the path ofmovement of the driving rollers 43, thus rendering the pulley of thegear wheel 46 idle and etfectually checking the supply of material orstock of the feeder until the rear cutting blades 20 and retardingfingers 17 havedivided and equally distributed the material. Thischecking of the material to the feeder is effected Without checking thethreshing machine cylinder and Without interfering with the rotation ofthe rear. cutter 20 and retarder shaft 15. Should an uncut bundleaccidentally pass by the forward band cutter 11 or should a fiat bundleof stock or a mass of Wet or damp material enter thecasing, the samewill be effectually prevented [from being delivered to the receivingmachine by means of the autom, tie emergency governor lbefore described,as follows; should the stoppage or obstruction occur, say, for instance,on the lthe ear IWheel 46 therebyA to automatically cliec the feed ofmaterial until the band cutters -and retarder fingers `have loosened upthe tangled mass of stock and evenly dis- ,other attendant.

tributed the latter for delivery to the threshing machine cylinder.Should an obs ruc-A tion occur on thc opposite side of the mam chine theWeight. of the stock or bundle will depress the brackets 1i, in themanner before stated, and in so doing will cause the rod 33 to tilt theadjacent arm l down-- wardly and the arm 2G on 'the other side of themachine upwardly, thereby to exert an upward pull on the rod 35 and tiltthe emergency trip lever 34e. to release the dog 4L() and likewise checkthe supply of nuiterial to the feeder. `t obvious that should anobstruction occur in the center of the retarder, both brackets beingconnected by coil springs 27, said brackets will be forced downwardly.siumltaneously to effect the actuation of thetrip dog all. 'lhns it'will be seen that the mechanism herein shown and described, is operatedeli'ectually to check the feed of material or stock both as to volumeand as to the condition of the stock,

' tliemlatter operation being etiiected by reason of' the intermeshingengagement of the retarder fingers with the cl'itting devices en therear band cutter. it will also be noted that the retarding lingers areautomatically in action, that is to say, that they are nor mally andyieldably supported in intermeshing engagement with the teeth on therear band cutter and operate to etlect the more ment of the trip dog i0when an obstruction occurs, withoutmanual manipulation or attention onthe part of the operator or ',Wliile the rear cutter is shown anddescribed with spaced-cutting knives it is obvious that the same may bein the form of a cylinder or a shaft, with teeth or with fiat barsfastened thereon, Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Havingthus described my invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a feeder, the combinationwith a in intermeshing engagement withthe steelt i engaging members of the cutter, means for feeding the stockto the cutter and means for automatically checltii'xg the delivery ofstock to the feeder when an overcharge occurs.

2. In a feeder, the combination with a cutter having a plurality ofspaced spirally 'disposed cutting blades, a rotary conveyer,brackets'pivotally connected with the conveyer and provided With angularextensions, a retarder shaft journaled in the brackets and 'providedwith spaced spirally disposed ting blades.

feeder, the combination Lwith a 5 retarding lingers in intermeshingengagement with the cutting devices, and means for automaticallychecking the movement of the conveyer when an overcharge of stock passesbetween the retarding fingers and the cuty 3. Inv a cutter, providedwith a plurality of spaced cutting devices, of pivotally mountedbrackets having angular extensions, a retarder shaft journaled inthebrackets and provided with a plurality ofspaced fingers intermeshingwith the cutting devices, springs forming a yieldable connection betweenthe retarder shaft and the angular extensions ofthe brackets fornormally and yieldingly supporting the, ret-arding lingers and cuttingdevices in intermeshing` engagement, mea-ns l operatively connected withthe retarder shaft for raising and lowering the latter to adjust theretarding lingersV relatively to the cutting devices, means for feedingthe stock to the cutting devices, iand means for automatically checkingthe feed of the stock when an overcharge thereof passes between theretarding fingers and cutting devices.- y

4e. In a-feeder, the combination with a casing, of a cutter mounted forrotation in the easing and provided with spaced cutting devices, anendless conveyer, brackets pivotally mounted on the conveyer shaft, aretarder shaft journaled in the brackets and provided with a pluralityof spaced fingers arranged to intermesh with the cutting devices, .therebeing segmental slots formed in the casing, a transverse shaftseated insaid slots, springs forming a connection between the brackets andtransverse shaft, and ratchet mechanism operatively connected with thetransverse shaft for adjusting the latter vertically of the casing.

'5. Ina feeder, the combination ,with a casing, of a band cutter mountedfor rota- `tion in the casingand provided with spaced cutting devices,an endless conveyer, brackets pivotally mounted on the conveyer-shaft, aretarder shaft journaled in the brackets and provided with spacedfingers arranged beneath the-band cutter and normally intermeshing withthe cutting devices,- a gear wheelloosely mounted on the convcy'ershaft, a dog vfor clutching the'gear wheelto the conveyen or shaft,andxmain and auxiliary trip levers for releasing the dogto check thefeed of stock to the cutting devices when an ,'overcharge 0fmaterialfpasses between the retarding fingers'and said cutting devices.6. In a feeder, a casing, a band cutter disposed Within the casingandprovided with.

spaced cutting blades, a conveyer, brackets ,l pivotally mounted on theconveyer shaft, a

retarder shaft liournaled in the brackets and provided with spaced.fingers arranged `to interinesh with the cutting blades, a gear wheelloosely mounted on sa idconveycr sh aft, a dog for clutching the gearwheel to the conveyer shaft, springs operatively connected with thebrackets for normally and yieldahly supporting the retarder fingers inan operative relation to the feeding devices, and a triplever actuatedupon the depression of 'the retarder for rcleasingthe dog` thereby to.check the Supply of stock to, thefeeder when an overcharge passesbetween the. retarder and cutting devices.

T. In a feeder, the combination with a band cutter, provided with spacedcuttingl devices, of a retarder disposed beneath thc band cutterprovided with spaced fingersnorinally intermeshing with the cutting divices, means for feeding material tothe eutting devices. means forautomatically cheeking thefeed otI stock when a taitgledv mass ofmaterial passes between the retarder aud the cutting devices, and othermeans tor am tomat-ically checking the feed of materml when anovereharge. occurs, b v reason of au excess in volume of material fed tothe ma chine.

8.v In a feeder, the combination with frontand rear band cutters eachprovided with spaced cutting devices, a retarder disposed beneath theband cutter and having spaced lingers normally and yieldablyintermeshing wit-h the cuttingvdevicesI ot the rear baud cutter, meansfor feeding stock to the cutting devices, means for auton'iatically`checking` the feed of material when an overcharge passes between theretarde1 and rear band cutter. and other means for automaticallychecking the feed of the material when an increase .in the volume ofmaterial oct-.urs atv the front cutter.

9. In a feeder, the combination with a casing, of spaced band cuttersjournaled iu the casing, a conveyer, a driving wheel loosely mounted onthe conveyer shaft, a dog for clutching the driving` wheel to theconveyer shaft, means for transmitting mo tion to the driving wheel fromone of the band cutters, a governor operatively connected with the shaftof the other band cutter, a retarder co-acting with the last mentionedband cutter, and a trip lever operatively connected with and actuated bythe governor to release the dog, .thereby to check the supply of stockto thefeeder when an overcharge passes between the retarder and adjacentband cutter.

10. In .a feeder, the combination with a casing, of a band cuttervprovided with ing wheel loosely mounted on the conveyor shaft., a dogfor clutching the driving wheel to the conveyer shaft, spaced bracketspivotspaeed cutting devices, a conveyer, a driv nection between thecrank arms and saidbrackets for yieldably supporting the retarder, atrip lever operatively connected With one of the crank arms and actuatedupon the depression of the retarder to release the dog, thereby to checkthe supply of stock to the feeder when an overeharge passes between theretarder and cuttin,gl devices.

l1. In a feeder, the combination Wit-l1 a cutt-er provided With spacedmembers for engagement With the stock, supporting means, a rotatableretarder supported by said means beneath the cutter adapted to supportIthe stock in operative relation With said members and adapted to movetoward and from the cutter and provided with ngers alternating with saidstock lengaging members, means operatively connected With'the retardersupport for normally and yieldably maintaining the retarding fingers intheir altcrnat ing .relation With the stock engaging members of thecutter, means :t'or feeding the stock to the cutter, and meanscontrolled by the retarder for automatically,checking the delivery ofstock to the feeder when an overcharge occurs. v

In testimony whereof I attix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- JOHN F. LANGDQN VVitneSses THORNTON W. SMgG'EN'r, A. J. ADAMS.

Gopies of this patent may be Yobtainedfor.ive cents each, Aby addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. C.

